Lukas Kendall of Filmscoremonthly has put a message in our forum. For those of you who do not read our forum, or may overlook the message, we repeat it here:

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Hi Folks,

I saw this thread about our new ALICE/PETULIA CD and wanted to explain a few things. The CD contains the LP masters (from the 1/4'' stereo master tapes) for each album, which was all that was available for license, and all that was available to us as far as masters.

While we would love to release other, never-before-available Barry scores, it's increasingly hard to get the rights to them -- and there are master-tape problems for many as well. The Barry scores we released in 2005 -- King Kong and Alice/Petulia -- we were able to get due to our relationship with Warner Music Group who control the album rights.

Personally, I love these two scores and find them very well represented by the LPs. (Years ago I had a home-made cassette that had Deadfall on one side and Petulia, and I am thrilled to have brought both to CD form.) I suppose it's a matter of taste, whether you like Barry's adventure scores or his epics or his more personal, offbeat works (like these two), but I happen to adore all of them. I'd be surprised if anyone reading this post -- a John Barry fan who frequents a forum about him -- bought this CD and was let down.

This premiere John Barry CD features two Warner Bros. albums from a period of great creativity for the composer: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972) and Petulia (1968).

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was a musical telling of Lewis Carroll's famous story, with a star-packed British cast including Peter Sellers, Dudley Moore, Michael Crawford and Ralph Richardson. John Barry collaborated with lyricist Don Black ("Born Free," "Diamonds Are Forever") on the delightful song-score.

Barry characterized the soundtrack as having "almost a Gilbert & Sullivan style, but with a contemporary feeling," but fans will recognize no musical identity except for Barry's own. The score, as wonderfully recorded for the soundtrack LP, includes three ballads, large symphonic pieces, and enjoyable settings of classic Caroll nonsense -- with Barry melodies through and through.

Petulia was Barry's second collaboration with director Richard Lester (following The Knack...and How to Get It), a serious, contemporary drama set in San Francisco starring Julie Christie, George C. Scott and Richard Chamberlain. It is regarded as one of the best films of the era, with a sophisticated flashback structure (and cinematography by Nicolas Roeg) anchored by Barry's melancholy and melodic score.

In addition to the haunting main theme, Petulia features a distinctive figure for saxophones anticipating Diamonds Are Forever, and several pieces of vintage Barry source music -- low-key jazz tunes that rank with the best instrumental music of the era, and echo some of the source cues of the James Bond films.

This holiday present for Barry fans comes with new liner notes by Jon Burlingame, and is remastered from the original 1/4" stereo album tapes.

Alice's Adventures in WonderlandMusic Composed by John Barry, Lyrics by Don Black

1. Overture 4:29 2. Curiouser and Curiouser 2:16 Sung by Fiona Fullerton (Alice) 3. You've Got to Know When to Stop 2:09 Sung by Davy Kaye (Mouse) 4. The Royal Procession 1:44 5. The Last Word Is Mine 2:01 Sung by Michael Crawford (White Rabbit) and Fiona Fullerton 6. Dum and Dee Dance 3:08 Nursery Rhyme Lyrics by Lewis Carroll Sung by Fiona Fullerton 7. The Pun Song 3:03 Sung by Sir Robert Helpman (Mad Matter), Peter Sellers (March Hare) and Dudley Moore (Dormouse) 8. I've Never Been This Far Before 2:19 9. Curiouser and Curiouser 2:14 10. I've Never Been This Far Before 2:19 Sung by Fiona Fullerton 11. Medley: 4:15 Off With Their Heads Sung by Dame Flora Robson (Queen of Hearts) The Croquet Game Off With Their Heads The Moral Song Sung by Peter Bull (the Duchess) Off With Their Heads 12. The Me I Never Knew 2:39 13. The Lobster Quadrille 1:46 14. Will You Walk a Little Faster? 1:57 Lyrics by Lewis Carroll Sung by Michael Hordern (Mock Turtle) and Spike Mulligan (Gryphon) 15. They Told Me 0:54 Lyrics by Lewis Carroll Sung by Michael Crawford 16. The Me I Never Knew 4:10 Sung by Fiona Fullerton

ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND - A star-studded cast highlights this musical adaptation of the classic fantasy tales of Lewis Carroll. One day young Alice (Fiona Fullerton) takes a nasty spill down the rabbit-hole and finds herself in the bizarre kingdom of Wonderland, where she encounters a number of strange and enchanted characters, including the playful White Rabbit (Michael Crawford), the manic March Hare (Peter Sellers), the mysterious Caterpillar (Ralph Richardson), the Doormouse (Dudley Moore), the imperious Queen of Hearts (Flora Robson), and the quizzical Mad Hatter (Robert Helpmann). The cast also includes Spike Milligan, Peter Bull, Roy Kinnear, and Michael Jayston as Lewis Carroll. "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland" won two prizes at the 1973 British Academy of Film and Theatre Awards - for Georfrey Unsworth's photography and Anthony Mendelson's costume design. 1972 PETULIA - Petulia is Richard Lester's ode to the Swinging Sixties: a time of psychedelic instability when neither those who were square, nor those who were hip, really had it right. George C. Scott is Archie Bollen, a divorced San Francisco doctor in the midst of "discovering himself." Julie Christie is Petulia Danner, a peculiar young beauty recently married into an established family. Archie's sterile apartment and detached, bemused manner exemplify his inability to emote. Petulia's forward nature and desperate tenderness betray her fear of her sullen, abusive, pretty-boy husband (Richard Chamberlain). The physician and the newlywed embark on a schizophrenic love affair amid Pepsi references, automated motels, roller derbies, and a cameo by Big Brother and the Holding Company - but they never achieve the daring to truly change their lives. 1968.

FILM: King Kong Channel: Channel 4 Date: Tuesday 20th December 2005 Time: 13:05 to 15:30 Duration: 2 hours and 25 minutes. Derided at the time, largely because it was produced by the then king of schlock Dino De Laurentiis, John Guillermin's remake of the 1933 classic actually has a lot going for it. The Oscar winning special effects sit happily with the tongue-in-cheek campiness that the three leads play along with and there's a superb John Barry score that is among the best of his long career.

"The wistful, melancholic score for Frances was composed and conducted by five-time Oscar recipient John Barry. Director Graeme Clifford, who believed that his composer of choice was the only person suited for the job, wrote in his original introduction for the 1982 LP release, “I have admired John Barry’s music for many years and had always promised myself that when I made my first picture I would contact John first. And that is what I did. I needed music that was at once romantic and yet underscored the severe emotional stress that pervaded Frances Farmer’s life. Even without the images on the screen, and many months after completing the picture, John’s music still moves me deeply”.

Of particular note to the listener is how Barry’s score reinforces the screenplay, albeit with great subtlety. Never intrusive, but striking nonetheless, are the elegant use of long, sustained chords (a Barry trademark) in the orchestration and an occasional harmonica solo, which the composer informed this writer in 1982, “comments on Frances Farmer’s yearning for things past”. The ascending two-note motif depicting Frances’s inner turmoil, “her cry for help” (Barry, again) intoned by the brass, is of interest too. Barry argued that overuse of the score would call attention to itself.

This is one of Barry’s most noble and haunting works, one which occupies a special place in a notable canon that includes some of the finest scores in the history of the cinema.

The film also boasts an impressive cast; Jessica Lange as the troubled Frances; Kim Stanley as Frances’s mother, Lillian Farmer and playwright-actor Sam Shepherd in the fictionalised role of one Harry York. Lange was nominated for Best Actress by the Motion Picture Academy at the 1982 Academy Awards but she lost to Meryl Streep in Sophie’s Choice."

This album has been re-mastered for Super Audio CD (SACD). This Hybrid SACD may be played on all CD players.

Don Black revealed to some of his and John Barry's fans at the "Thunderball 40th anniversary" screening that he and John Barry do want to revisit Brighton Rock. Don agreed that it would be very sad if the Almeida season was the beginning and the end of the show. He said that it would need some rewriting and it was clear from what he said that this hasn't happened yet.

He said that it should tour in the provinces first before any attempt at at a further West End run

Don seemed genuinely surprised by the interest expressed in the show.

Cause for guarded optimism then, but don't expect anything in the near future. [Thanks to Pete Greenhill for the information.]

DOCUMENTARY: Matt Monro: The Man With The Golden Voice Channel: BBC 4 Date: Saturday 22nd October 2005 Duration: 1 hour. Neil Pearson narrates a documentary telling the story of Matt Monro, the young Londoner born Terry Parsons who became one of the world's most popular ballad singers. Contributors include Paul Gambaccini, Don Black, George Martin, John Barry and Monro's family.

It was an excellent hour-long documentary charting Monro's life and career, accompanied by archive footage, interviews with Don Black, John Barry, Sir George Martin and Monro's family.

"Zulu": With Some Guts Behind It, The Making of the Epic Movie, Sheldon Hall, now available.

"Zulu": With Some Guts Behind It, The Making of the Epic Movie by Sheldon Hall, hardcover 431 pages (October 24, 2005), Publisher: Tomahawk Press, Language: English, ISBN: 0953192660, was published on 10 October by Tomahawk Press and should be available in bookshops and from online outlets in the UK from this Monday, October 24. Foreword by John Barry, OBE.

The author hopes that "you get to see the book and feel that it has all been worthwhile. Do please get in touch to let me know. Feedback I have received so far has been uniformly positive."

We will postpone the book publication "John Barry - The Man With The Midas Touch" until 2007. This gives us two things - 50 years in the business for JB, and 007 in the year. Plus another 13 months for Gareth to find that photo of JB, Brian Matthew & Adam Faith we desperately need for our radio chapter. But we are confident that 2007 will be a great launch year!!

Bernard Ingham provocatively salutes his top fifty Yorkshiremen and women of all time explorers, reformers, inventors, scientists, artists and sportspeople - and includes a chapter on the man he sums up thus: "John Barry is not a household name in Yorkshire, though he ought to be because he is the world's most successful film composer".

Order enquiries: Tel: (+44) 01756 701033 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (remove NO and SPAM around @) Online: www.dalesman.co.uk

Kenny Clayton is releasing a tribute to Petula Clark and Matt Monro that is scheduled to be released on November 21st, 2005.

The new album that Kenny has recorded is a heartfelt tribute to Petula Clark and Matt Monro. The album is entitled: "Kenny Clayton Plays Tribute to Petula Clark and Matt Monro - My Pet Sounds / A Portrait Of Matt". The catalogue number is: KENCC CD001. The album is now available to pre-order from Dress Circle .

The album was recorded at the start of August - the finished product sounds amazing with Kenny at a grand boudoir piano playing the timeless music of both Matt and Petula. Kenny was Matt's musical director between 1967 and 1969 and has been Petula's MD since 1962.

The CD comes complete with extensive liner notes featuring photos of Kenny with Petula and Matt. Kenny has also written a small tribute to Petula and Matt that is featured on the back of the CD booklet.

The tracks on the album are as follows:

My Pet Sounds: Who Am I / I Know A Place / My Love / Sailor / The Other Man's Grass Is Always Greener / Romeo / A Sign Of The Times / I Couldn't Live Without Your Love / Here For You / Downtown / Give It A Try A Portrait Of Matt: My Kind Of Girl / Portrait Of My Love / Wednesday's Child / As Long As I'm Singing / Walk Away / Born Free / From Russia With Love / Yesterday / On Days Like These / Softly As I Leave You

Total Tracks: 21; Total Playing time: 77m: 18s

Tim Hutton writes: After long conversations with Kenny we decided that the time was right to release a properly produced CD of Kenny playing piano of songs made famous by Petula Clark and Matt Monro.

The first song to be recorded that day was "A Portrait Of My Love" which reduced Kenny to tears as he has such wonderful memories of working with Matt. He misses Matt very much. Kenny arrived at the studio with no sheet music and played straight from the heart - the sound engineer commented that day that a pianist of Kenny's calibre is extremely rare.

Recently Kenny was thrilled to find that the Matt DVD "One Voice" featured himself as Matt's MD. What a find!

The Petula songs featured on the album are very much part of what Kenny does today and has been doing since 1962. Currently Kenny is in America with Petula and Andy Williams at the Moon River Theatre performing in a series nightly concerts for 6 weeks.

There will be a 'special' radio programme "John Barry - From Bond To Beyond" on Monday 29th August, Bank Holiday, 12:00 - 13:00, on BBC Radio Bristol, at noon, including contributions from the man himself. Presented by Steve Massam.

Rob Snow lets us know: "This programme was recorded just after The Beyondness Of Things was released and first aired on Radio Humberside back in 1999." Thank you Rob.

In a surprise move, John Lasher’s Didgeridoo label has decided to re-release John Barry’s Frances score, this time in SACD format. Whereas it is unlikely to contain any additional music, this might prove an opportunity for those who were unable to obtain copies of the previous ‘Gold’ CD release of a few years ago.

Vic Flick has told of his involvement in the forthcoming From Russia With Love video game. Apparently he has lent his distinctive guitar sound to the score by Chris Lennertz, who is looking to recapture the style and sound of the original film score. Welcome back Vic, things have been awfully dull without you!!

We are delighted to announce that the soundtrack specialist FSM are releasing John Barry's 'King Kong' on CD. This will be a premiere (legal) release for the album, and although there is no extra music, the sound quality is excellent.

The booklet also benefits from liner notes written by Geoff Leonard, Pete Walker & Steve Woolston.

King Kong is one of Hollywood's most legendary creations, from the groundbreaking 1933 original to the highly anticipated Peter Jackson remake. In 1976 producer Dino De Laurentiis struck box-office gold with his own incarnation of the story, starring Jeff Bridges, Jessica Lange, and a colossal forty-foot model of Kong. The film was a massive production with ambitious special effects.

Scoring the remake of one of the most famous films in Hollywood history was one of the few composers with the clout and talent to forge ahead with his own style: John Barry. The original's Max Steiner had practically invented the film score genre with the project, yet Barry was known for a completely different approach -- eschewing "Mickey Mousing" in favor of melody, mood and large-scale symphonic structures.

De Laurentiis had sought out Barry for the composer's romantic touch, and Barry responded by making the centerpiece of his score a gorgeous love theme that evoked the "beauty and the beast" angle of the story rather than the widescale destruction -- although Barry's James Bond experience helped in casting the tragedy, menace and suspense with symphonic grandeur. The score produced one of Barry's loveliest themes and is one of his signature works of the '70s, completely different from the Steiner score but with an avid following all its own.

This premiere CD of the 1976 King Kong features the original Reprise Records program of the soundtrack, running 42:30. Although collectors may have acquired a CD of this title on the "Mask" label, that album was an unauthorized edition believed to be mastered from an LP -- FSM's release is the first official CD mastered from the original 1/4" stereo album tapes.

King Kong (1976) is an example of a soundtrack where the album rights are held by a different corporate family than that which distributed the film itself; therefore, we are unable to expand or remix the music beyond the original LP edition. We are offering the CD at a lower price ($16.95) as a result, and have made every effort to ensure the best-possible sound. This is, at last, the first authorized CD of one of John Barry's best-known works. Liner notes are by Barry experts Geoff Leonard, Pete Walker and Stephen Woolston.

The Platinum Disc Corp people who ruined that first Alice's Adventures release appear to have given the same treatment to Svengali. It will be cheap but extreme caution is advised. We cannot guarantee that this is a legitimate release.

Composer Mark Thomas (session player on A View To A Kill) has assured us that this is an error: "There is no music by John Barry in Sprung! The Magic Roundabout - ... this is accurate information - some source tracks were used in the film but none by John Barry..."

The Dutch radiostation Concertzender announces for next Saturday, February Feb. 19 (21:00 Amsterdam Time =CET) in their series Unheard Scores The Horse Whisperer rejected score by John Barry. The English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Barry.

Note: This was an integral broadcasting of the The Beyondness Of Things CD; no commentary whatsoever.

On Saturday, February 12, John Barry receives the "Academy Fellowship" at the Baftas for an outstanding lifetime contribution to cinema.

These awards *are* meant to be secret, I'm sure .. and your Webmaster and site-owner were informed of the forth-coming award last week but were asked not to announce it before the event. Ah well, it seems JB has decided to break the news himself via the media in an interview in The Guardian.

Whereas we admire his candour, it's probably not the best way of making friends and influencing people! In lashing out not only at his fellow composers but also directors and producers, it begs the question "who will hire him now?"

We, of course, congratulate John for this wonderful honour. We wish we could be there to witness the event first hand but will make do with our seat in front of the TV on Saturday evening!

In the Guardian interview, Barry also rails against his successors: "Modern scores (are) meaningless" and comments on whether he "could be tempted to write a score for Casino Royale, " the new James Bond movie to be made for release in 2006.

Have a look at our new "bootbusters" page reporting bootleggers (illegal sellers of John Barry's work). Please reports boots, with the source. We do *not* look for them ourselves on place such as ebay.

PIA website

Play It Again Records CD catalogue offered the discerning listener a wide choice of digitally re-mastered recordings from film and television, and rare collections of work from the likes of Don Black and Ron Grainer.

Back by popular demand, popular Q The Music Show is coming back to The Harlington, Fleet bringing their fabulous and iconic music of James Bond to you in a stunning concert. This show has been a huge success at other theatres with its energetic and exciting performance by some of the UK’s leading musicians.

Featuring all the songs from the 007 movies, you can hear the greats like Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever, Skyfall, Thunderball, Live And Let Die, Goldeneye and Licence To Kill amongst all the others. With top musicians, dancers, and an informative and highly amusing compere, this show as everything you could want for a fabulous night out – and one that you will be talking about for years to come.

Formed in 2004, Q The Music Show have established a worldwide reputation for their authentic covers, orchestral sound and fabulous hair-raising vocalists. The show has been popular abroad at events in Monte Carlo, Germany, Italy, Guernsey, Prague and many others.

The popular Q The Music Show brings its James Bond Concert Spectacular to Buxton Opera House. The 13-piece band will be bringing the fabulous and iconic music of James Bond to you in a stunning concert. This show has been a huge success all around the world with its energetic and exciting performance by some of the UK’s leading musicians.

Featuring all the songs from the 007 movies, you can hear the greats like Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever, Skyfall, Thunderball, Live And Let Die, Goldeneye and Licence To Kill amongst all the others. With top musicians and an informative and highly amusing compere, this show as everything you could want for a fabulous night out – and one that you will be talking about for years to come.

Formed in 2004, Q The Music Show have established a worldwide reputation for their authentic covers, orchestral sound and fabulous hair-raising vocalists. The show has been popular abroad at events in Monte Carlo, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Guernsey, Prague and many others.

Barry Goldfinger (1964)Barry Main Theme, ZuluBarry On her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) We Have All the Time in the WorldBarry Somewhere in TimeBarry MoviolaBarry The PersuadersBarry Mary, Queen of ScotsBarry Midnight CowboyBarry Suite, Dances with Wolves

--interval--

Barry Born FreeBarry All Time High, Octopussy (1983)Barry Theme, Out of Africa (1985)Barry Body HeatBarry ChaplinBarry Space March (Capsule in Space), You Only Live TwiceBarry The KnackBarry Suite, James Bond

Legendary Hollywood composer John Barry won five Oscars throughout a career creating some of the most memorable music in the history of cinema. Enjoy an evening of his greatest hits – Bond themes from Goldfinger to We Have All the Time in the World, music from Zulu, Midnight Cowboy, Dances with Wolves and more.